Apparatus and method for conditioning cans of foaming liquids



March 16, 1954 E E JEREMIAH 2,672,420

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONDITIONING CANS 0F FOAMING LIQUIDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 7, 1949 INVENTOR. EARL E, JEREMIAH BY M @449 A 7'7'0R/VE) March 16, 1954 JEREMIAH 2,672,420

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONDITIONING CANS OF FOAMING LIQUIDS I Filed July 7, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 00 000000000 0Ooooo0O INVENTOR. 0 54/? E'. J?M/4H ATTOIP/Vf) Patented Mar. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONDITION- ING, CANS 0F FOAMIN G LIQUIDS Earl E. Jeremiah, Modesto,..Calif;, assignor to.

Pacific Can. Company,

corporation of Nevada Application July 7,1949, Serial N 0.. 103,344

3" Claims.

can from either of two sources: .First, the air.

may be entrained in the liquid during fillingof the can,.the air, usually being associated. with C02 gas, and rising to the, top of the can in large. bubbles ofuneven size. Second, inasmuch as the can isordinarily notfilled to the top of. the flange-the unfilled portion. being. commonly termed, "head space-air may fill thisspace before the cover is appliedv and be sealed in the; can; The present invention is designed, to eliminate air from both sources. In the first instance, the large airv bubbles are passed through an atmospher of superheated steam which expands thejbubbles until they burst. Thereafter steam isspread over the surface of the liquid so that the top of the liquid is warmed, causing som of the entrained bubbles of CO2 in the liquid to rise, expand, andfill .thehead space of the can with small, even-sized, "creamy bubbles which are practically free of air with a minimumof Iairv in, the interstices of the bubbles- When th cover isthen applied and seamed the can contain substantially less air than; in. other devices and methods of. conditioning-cans prior toclosing.

One of the advantages of the present invention is the use of steam ratherthanothermeans used in the prior art. Steam :is ordinarilyavailable iii-unlimited,quantities-at all times in a brewery and hence constitutes no appreciable item of costin'treatingthe cans. Further,- the treatment of the liquid-with steam can have no efiecton the.

liquid other thanan inconsequentialdilution,

whereas such methods as burn' off the foam may afiect'the taste and color: Also, if the operation of" the filling'lineshouldstop for a time, a can coming to rest under theconditioner is'not adversely affected by its proximity to the conditioner.

Anadditional-distinction between the instant invention and the prior-art-is the fact that no gas is jetted under the surf'aceof th liquidin order to create the bubbles, which fill the head space: baton-th contrary-an agitating" lanket ofisteam is laid on. the surface ofthellquid with;

San Francisco, Calif a the result that an even, creamyfoam. is produced,

the bubbles beingsmaller and containing less air than when jetting. isemployed.

Other features of the invention are the adjustability of the device to varying. conditions of the brew, low cost of operation and freedom from a multiplicity of moving parts.

With the above and other objects and advantages in view, the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a schematioplan view of a canfiller and a transferturret and the conditioner which is the subject of the present invention installed, thereon;

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the contents of a. can during various stages ofconditioning in accordance with the present invention as set.

forth herein;

Fig. 3 is a diagram of the steam circuit employed in the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan of the conditioner;..

Fig. 5 is a top plan thereof, the cover beingv partially broken away in section; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken substantially along the line 6+6of Fig. 5 and showing a can therebelow.

In Fig. 1 is shown a schematic, simplified version. of part of the filling line of a brewery. Cans Y I 0 are fed into the filler turret l l and as they are carried around thereby are filled with beer, ale or similar products. Then the cans are passed to the transfer turret I! for transmission to the seaming turret (not shown), but during transmission from thefilling-to the transfer turret they pass beneath the conditioner [3 which is th subject ofthisinvention; It will be understood that the cans [0 are not filled to the top edge of the flange-of the canbut in-common practice the'liquid level is about T e-in. below the edge. In present day fillers, particularly when operated at the high speeds commonly employed, the presence'of large bubbles in th head space of the cans is unavoidable. These large'bubbles l4 contain some CO2 but also contain substantial quantities of air,-which, if not removed, will adversely afiect the beverage upon standing after sealing. The condition of the can after filling" and before conditioning is shown in Fig. 2 (a).-

The construction of the conditioneri 3 is shown in-detail in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. It will be seen that it in the'shape of a shallowbox orychests The bottom 16 of thebox is perforate, there beinga large -number-- of fine holes H throughout the area under which the cans pass. It has been found that holes of a diameter of 0.0280 in. spaced apart A in. between centers are desirable. The top 18 of the chest is imperforate, but is preferably formed with a hole IQ for access for cleaning, the hole being normally closed by a cover 2! held by screws 22. The side walls 23 of the chest are soldered to the top l8 and bottom IE so that the steam which is introduced in the chest at low pressure through port 24 as hereinafter explained is emitted in the form of a fog through the minute holes I! in the bottom and thus creates an atmosphere of steam beneath the chest. The cans pass under the chest with a clearance of about /2 to A1 in. and hence the bubbles on the tops of the cans are subjected to this atmosphere of hot steam under low pressure which causes expansion of the bubbles beyond the bursting point. The condition of the cans at this point is shown in Fig. 2(1)).

Passing through a portion of the side 23 is a tube 26 which carries steam under low pressure as hereinafter described. Said tube 26 terminates in a nipple 21 projecting downwardly from the undersurface of chest 13, the nipple clearing the edge of the can passing underneath by about in. The nipple is located about of the way along the arcuate path which the center of the can travels in passing under the chest, the path of travel being indicated by line 28 in Fig. 5. Thus the larg bubbles of air and gas M have been largely destroyed before the surface of the can is subjected to the action of the steam emerging from the hole 29 in nipple 21. The action of the steam is not to jet below the surface of the liquid but rather to lay an agitating blanket of steam over the liquid surface, the steam having only enough pressure to penetrate beneath any bubbles which might remain on the surface and ruffle the surface beneath such bubbles. The action of the hot steam on the surface of the liquid is to cause the small bubbles of CO: in solution in the liquid to rise and expand to form a creamy layer of foam 3! which has no air pockets in the interstices and which contains CO2 almost exclusively. The condition of the cans at this point is shown in Fig. 2(c), the foam completely filling the head space and projecting above the top in a slight crown and holding its volume until after the cover has been applied and seamed. The condition of the can just prior to seaming is shown in Fig. 2(d).

It will be understood that the shape of the chest 13 in horizontal cross-section is determined in large measure by the space limitations of the equipment with which it is connected. In the main, however, the length of path of travel of the center of the can (illustrated by line 28 in Fig. is greater than the can diameter and the extent of the holes ii is such that the entire surface of the liquid is subjected to the action of the steam.

It will be seen that for proper operation of the device, steam must be introduced through tube 26 and port 24 so as to perform the dual function of the device. The preferred means for supplying steam is next described, it being understood that this feature is subject to considerable modification.

Steam under approximately 100# pressure is introduced through pipe 50 into tank 5| adjacent the top thereof, there being a shut-off valve 52 to be closed when the device is not inoperation. The take-off 53 from tank 5i is adjacent the top and the steam is brought around the outside of the tank through pipe 54 and through the pressure regulating valve 56, where a drop in pres sure to about 20# takes place. The steam is brought up through coiled tubing 51 inside tank 5| and thus superheated. Trap 58 connected to the bottom of the tank absorbs whatever moisture is in the tank so that the steam is dry upon passing through the coils 51. Strainers 59 are positioned in the lines at proper places to remove undesirable material.

The steam thence passes to a 3-way valve 6|. This valve is preferably solenoid-controlled and connected into the motor control circuit for the seamer (not shown) so that when the seamer is stopped the flow of steam will be diverted to trap 82 and will not pass through the conditioner system. It is important that the steam be diverted els the can in turret l2 stopped immediately under the conditioner [3 will be spoiled because an excessive amount of CO2 will escape therefrom and the beer will become flat, which produces an unfavorable customer reaction. However, so that the conditioner i3 is not cooled excessively during temporary shutdowns, which would result in condensation of steam and consequent dilution of the beer, a by-pass is established through pipe 63 around the valve iii, the

amount of flow through the by-pass being regulated by valve 64 to accomplish the objects of the preceding sentence.

From the 3-way valve Bl the steam branches into two pipes 65 and 61, having regulating valves 68 and 69, respectively, and leading to tube 25 and port 24.

In operating the conditioner, after a supply of superheated steam is established, the regulating valve 69 is manually adjusted so that the steam flow through holes I! in the bottom of chest I? is sufiicient to burst all of the bubbles I4 in the cans. This adjustment must be made each time the equipment is set in operation and checked from time to time for the reason that the characteristics of the beer or other liquid being canned may vary and the quantity of bubbles and the thickness of their walls may require more or less steam and pressure for complete destruction, and it is desirable to use a minimum amount of steam so that the beer is not flattened or d;l-. luted.

After the chest is discharging properly, the operator adjusts the other regulating valve 68 so that the steam from the nipple 21 spreads an agitating layer which ruffles the surface of the liquid but does not appreciably penetrate the surface. The adjustment is made until CO2 foam 3| rises to completely fill the head space of the cans and run over slightly.

The adjustment of the valves 68 and 69 is made as often as required, but the pressure regulating valves 68 and 69 insure that a constant steam pressure is maintained between settings and the adjustment need only be made when the characteristics of the product being canned change appreciably.

It will be understood that whereas a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated, changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims. For

example, containers other than metal cans might be used with the conditioner and liquids other than beer and ale treated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a' conditioner for open top cans of foaming liquids initially having large bubbles of air.

means for advancing cans in a substantially horizontal path of travel, a chest positioned immediately above said path of travel comprising two flat plates spaced vertically apart and sealed around the sides, the bottom plate being formed with a plurality of minute apertures spaced in a pattern at least as wide as said can in a direction transverse to said path of travel and substantially greater than said can in the direction of said path of travel, said apertures being dispersed to sweep the entire area of the surface of the liquid, means for supplying steam to said chest, said chest and the apertures therein being positioned and arranged to permit steam to be discharged to create a heated atmosphere containing steam above the liquid surface to burst said bubbles, a steam line passing through said chest, a nipple having an aperture at its bottom at the terminus of said steam line positioned immediately above said path of travel and depending from said bottom plate, and means for supplying steam to said nipple directly from said steam line, said nipple being positioned adjacent the end of said path of travel below said chest, said nipple being arranged to discharge and direct steam in a blanket over the top surface of said liquid.

2. A conditioner according to claim 1 which further comprises valve means arranged to interrupt steam flow upon stoppage of said means for advancing cans.

3. A method of conditioning beer or ale in EARL E. JEREMIAH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNTiED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,114,964 lviacKenzie Apr. 19, 1938 2,165,908 Sparling et a1 July 11, 1939 2,204,833 Stone June 18, 1940 2,218,911 Hopkins Oct. 22, 1940 2,299,553 McKinnis Oct. 20, 1942 2,328,372 Wollenweber Aug. 31, 1943 2,333,898 Stevenson et a1 Nov. 9, 1943 2,338,108 Gartland Jan. 4, 1944 2,356,498 Bargeboer Aug. 22, 1944 2,372,457 Stewart Mar. 27, 1945 2,380,434 l-Ieinle July 31, 1945 2,383,975 Kronquest Sept. 4, 1945 2,398,189 Munroe Apr. 9, 1946 2,439,773 Hohl et al Apr. 13, 1948 2,660,352 Renard Nov. 24, 1953 

3. A METHOD OF CONDITIONING BEER OR ALE IN OPEN TOP CANS INITIALLY CONTAINING LARGE AIR BUBBLES COMPRISING THE FIRST STEP OF BURSTING SAID BUBBLES BY PASSING SAID CANS INTO A FOG OF STEAM AT ABOUT ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE TO HEAT SAID LARGE BUBBLES IN AN ATMOSPHERE OF LOW PRESSURE SUPERHEATED STEAM ABOVE THE SURFACE OF THE LIQUID IN SAID CANS AND BURST SAID BUBBLES, AND THE SECOND STEP OF LAYING AN AGITATING BLANKET OF STEAM DIRECTLY OVER THE LIQUID SURFACE AFTER SAID BUBBLES HAVE BURST TO INDUCE FOAMING TO FILL THE HEAD SPACE OF SAID CAN WITH A CREAMY FOAM. 